Now is exactly the time to not do stupid shit

[Bragi]

The crises with Russia and ISIS indicate that this is exactly the time when America most needs a President who's foreign policies are guided by the principle of "not doing stupid shit."

It's good to have President Obama right now in the captain's chair.

[VanGoghRocks]

1. There are some (self included) who think the Afghan Surge was exceedingly 'stupid shit.' I also

happen to think President Obama got himself mousetrapped into that. Here's hoping he learned from the Moustrap, v 1.0.

[Bragi]

4. Agreed, but he was so much older then...

He's younger than that now.

[VanGoghRocks]

5. Serious props to you for the Dylan\Byrds reference. Very a propos!

[Bragi]

6. Thanks! A terrific lyric never dies. /nt

[ybbor]

9. It's stuck in my head now

Not a bad thing at all! Well the getting older stuff is kinda a bummer, but better than the alternative, I guess.

[handmade34]

2. yup...

[Faux pas]

3. Agreed!

I love a cool head in crazy/scary/insane situations.

[jtuck004]

7. Repeat as needed...

[TheKentuckian]

8. It is always the right time not to do stupid shit and Obama does stupid shit

but with far less gusto and single minded determination than most others at that level but still dangerously foolish and shortsighted at times leading to bad passes to varying degrees.

[1StrongBlackMan]

14. Have you considered ...

you are basing the "stupid sh!t" determination on insufficient information?

Call me naïve, but I trust the studied decisions of this deliberate and patient man, with access to far more information and analysis, than you or I, to not do stupid sh!t.

[TheKentuckian]

19. You are naive, that is a built in justification for anything and the refuge of an apologist.

Folks have been telling themselves the same lame excuse for decades and decades for all kinds of stupid, wrongheaded, and even malicious actions only to either end up admitting their foolish naivete or digging their heels no matter how reality smacks them in the mouth even with the advantage of 20/20 hindsight.

Your rationale has been used over and over. Bushbots said the same crap. Folks said the same about Clinton on deregulation and NAFTA. The same rationalization for all kinds of Reagan shenanigans. Same shit for Vietnam. Same crap for Korea.

I'll take the odds on not trusting politicians. One of the most foolish things one can do is trust a politician and it leads to the flat out stupidity of never being able to accept being wrong which in turn means there is no reason to be less foolish ever.

The dog also fails to hunt because this is supposed to be self governance, if the people don't have the facts then it is the fault of those entrusted with leadership.

[1StrongBlackMan]

24. Okay ...

But the U.S. has NEVER, ever, been about self governance.

[TheKentuckian]

26. I thought you had faith in Obama? He seems to consistently disagree with you here.

Here are a few quotes.

“None of this is fair to you. And should it continue, it will make it more difficult to keep attracting the kind of driven, patriotic, idealist Americans to public service that our citizens deserved and that our system of self-government demands.”

"As citizens, we understand that America is not about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us, together — (cheers, applause) — through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. That's what we believe."

"Still, you’ll hear voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s the root of all our problems, even as they do their best to gum up the works; or that tyranny always lurks just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, creative, unique experiment in self-rule is just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.

We have never been a people who place all our faith in government to solve our problems, nor do we want it to. But we don’t think the government is the source of all our problems, either. Because we understand that this democracy is ours. As citizens, we understand that America is not about what can be done for us. It’s about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but absolutely necessary work of self-government."

"Our actions will not prevent every senseless act of violence in this country.  In fact, no laws, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve all the challenges I’ve outlined tonight.  But we were never sent here to be perfect.  We were sent here to make what difference we can, to secure this nation, expand opportunity, uphold our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely necessary work of self-government."

[Scootaloo]

21. Not that i'm agreeing with kentuckian...

But the argument you're presenting is a pretty poor one. Assuming - and asserting - secret information that 100% validates seemingly bad policy, is simply special pleading. This line of thinking was rampant among the trogs during the bush administration, and I'd like to think we're all better than them.

[DonCoquixote]

16. true, and not true

Yes, Drones are indeed "stupid shit",
but the fact he is resisting the headlong rush into war with Syria and the second Cold War is a prime example of NOT doing Stupid shit.

Hillary saying she would have done Stupid shit (war with Syria) is even dumber shit.

[TheKentuckian]

25. It isn't just drones. We have the stupid surge in Afpak. We have the insanely stupid

desatabilization of Libya, we have stupidity right there in Syria with trying to back and foment a coup. We have similar stupidity in the Ukraine.

Then we can talk stupid drones and any number of clandestine and economic actions playing games around the world.

[Rex]

10. Yes it is!

[MisterP]

11. he supported al Qaeda in Libya and Syria since 2011

[Skittles]

27. the stupid shit has already been done

[bemildred]

12. It is indeed the time not to do stupid shit.

We are dealing with the consequences of quite enough stupid shit as it is.

[Moonwalk]

13. According to what's trending most on the internet, he did something supremely stupid....

...wore a tan suit.

[Initech]

15. McCain would have easily pulled the trigger on Iraq War II:Electric Boogaloo Die Harder by now.

[Martin Eden]

20. That would be Iraq War III

The "ISIS crisis" brought to you by Weapons of Mass Production.

[Initech]

23. Iraq War III: The Isis Crisis

That would make an awesome sequel name!

[lpbk2713]

17. But just think of all those potential emergency no-bid contracts.

Unca Dick and his monkey would have had us up to our eyebrows by now.

[Martin Eden]

18. Intelligent policy needs to be more than not doing **stupid shit** ...

... but that's a good start, because once you start doing **stupid shit** it becomes orders of magnitude more difficult for intelligent policy to do any good.

Exhibit A is Iraq today (courtesy of the neocons urging more stupid shit).

[Helen Borg]

22. Imagine McCain / Palin...

[Rex]

29. .

[moondust]

28. It is very good.

I personally think foreign policy is his real strength, having become intimately aware of the wider world at a very young age thanks to his father.